


Undercover Lover

by misura



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bodyguard, M/M, Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:21:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25608055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: Chancellor Palpatine wants a Jedi bodyguard. Jedi Master Mace Windu wants to keep an eye on a dangerous, corrupt politician. Clearly, this is a match made in heaven.
Relationships: Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious/Mace Windu
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16
Collections: Rare Male Slash Exchange 2020





	Undercover Lover

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shrineofstones](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shrineofstones/gifts).



_No doubt about it, this is going to suck,_ Mace thought, but then they reached their destination and he turned his mind back to serenity and peace and calm and the knowledge that there was an excellent chance he would get to kill a very bad person at the end of this.

Palpatine was smiling, as if he knew what Mace had been thinking and approved wholeheartedly., which, all things considered, seemed highly unlikely.

"Master Windu. To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?"

 _We'll see how much of a pleasure it is when I put a very definitive end to your career - and your life._ Mace bowed all the same. The man was still Supreme Chancellor, after all. "In view of recent events, the Jedi Council has appointed me to watch over your safety."

Palpatine arched an eyebrow. "A bodyguard? Is that really necessary?"

 _Think of it more like a lightsaber at your neck._ "You yourself seemed to think so."

Palpatine grimaced. Mace tried not to look too smug. Smugness led to the Dark Side, after all. "All due respect, but I explicitly asked for Anakin Skywalker."

Mace bowed again, mostly to hide his grin. Grinning did not lead to the Dark Side, as far as he knew. "All due respect, but you do not command the Council. We considered your request, of course, but in the end, we judged it best to provide you with someone a little more ... experienced than Anakin Skywalker." _To say nothing of someone a little less easily manipulated._

Secret marriages might also not lead to the Dark Side, but they did require some sort of consequence - a stern talking-to, at the very least, to make it clear that some things simply were Not Done. Unfortunately, for all his faults, Anakin had rather too many parts to play to be effectively demoted in any way. Denying Palpatine access to him had been as much a matter of protecting Anakin as it had been denying him an opportunity to curry yet more favor.

It was all very political and polite, and it made Mace desperately want to behead a few drones.

Unfortunately, he'd gotten stuck with _this_ job instead.

"Of course. I have every confidence in your abilities, Master Windu," Palpatine said.

"Great," Mace said. "Don't worry, I'll do my very best not to get in your way. In fact, most of the time you won't even know I'm there." _But I will be. Watching every little thing you do or say, and all the people you talk to and make deals with. How do you like that, Mr Supreme Chancellor?_

"Wonderful," Palpatine said. He'd started smiling again, the very image of a consummate politician.

_Yes. That sounds like exactly the right adjective to describe this situation._

Mace would have liked to believe the next week passed in something of a blur, except that that would suggest it went quickly. It didn't.

If Mace had ever thought the Jedi Council took a long time to debate things, he now knew that he'd been wrong. The Jedi were warriors first. Everything else came second.

The people Palpatine met with were actual _politicians_. They talked endlessly, repeated themselves at least three times, and then at the end of their speech, they allowed for the possibility that they might be persuaded to change their mind if presented with the right arguments, at which point someone else would take a turn talking.

It would have been annoying if it also hadn't been so unspeakably, unbearably dull.

"Still with us, Master Windu?" Palpatine asked, smiling his smug smile. They were alone for the moment, though Mace had no doubt the next delegation would be waiting outside already.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Mace said. "Who's next?"

"Ah. I'm actually done for the day. I'm afraid I'm not as young as I used to be." Palpatine's smile turned a bit rueful.

 _Sure, and I've got an extra pair of hands under my robes to enable me to fight with four lightsabers instead of just the one._ Not that Mace thought one wouldn't be more than enough to handle anything anyone might throw at him, including Palpatine.

"You must look forward to a time when you can go back to just being a senator, huh? Let someone else deal with all this," he said, mostly to see what Palpatine would say in return. "Wel, I'm sure it won't be long now."

"Yes," Palpatine said. "It's flattering, of course, to know my fellow senators place such trust in me."

"I'm sure it is." Mace wondered how many of Palpatine's supporters actually supported him and how many of them were just idiots who believed in all the things he'd promised them.

Palpatine sighed. "Still, the burden of responsibility is a heavy one. The work is unending, and as to the rewards, well."

 _Ending up ruler of a galactic empire sounds like a pretty sweet reward._ Not that Mace would ever want the job even if they'd offered to pay him. "Oh, there must be some perks, surely?"

"Such as my very own Jedi master for a bodyguard?"

Mace shrugged. "You tell me." He'd dealt with a few bombs, a couple of assassins, small stuff like that. A few moments during which he hadn't been bored.

The assassins had seemed a lot more interested in killing him than in getting past him, to Palpatine - but of course, he'd ended up having to kill them, so it wasn't as if he had any sort of proof of their intentions. Seven days of hell, and still the only thing he had were suspicions.

"It's a great comfort to know the Jedi Council takes such an interest in my health," Palpatine said. "Please do tell them how very much I appreciate their continued support in these troubled times."

Mace bowed. "Of course."

The assassins got a bit more skilled the next week, and there also was a poisoning attempt. Mace worried a bit at the fact that he was beginning to look forward to things like that: they were a lot better than sitting through yet another negotiation about nothing of any particular interest.

"Will you join me for a drink, Master Windu?" Palpatine asked at the end of another long day.

Mace allowed himself to imagine that this was going to be the moment Palpatine confessed everything, allowing Mace to dispatch him and go back to doing things that actually mattered.

"I guess one drink can't hurt." _Unless it's poisoned_ , but that seemed unlikely. Palpatine might claim the poison had been meant for _him_ , of course, only there would always be talk, suspicion, not the least from the Council.

Palpatine smiled and gestured. "Please. Sit." He poured the drinks himself.

Mace was not impressed, though he was willing to admit it was a nice touch. He sat down, accepting a glass full of some bright, green liquid.

Palpatine sat down opposite him, a bit closer than Mace would have expected. "So. How goes the mission, Master Windu? Have you found any proof of my wrong-doings yet?"

 _So it's going to be like that, is it?_ Mace toyed with the idea of playing dumb, but he'd already spent two weeks doing that, with nothing much to show for it. "If I'd found proof, I wouldn't be here any longer," he said. "I'd be in front of the Council, arguing for your immediate arrest."

"Ouch," Palpatine said, though his smile didn't waver. "Well, at least you're being candid."

"Must be an unusual experience for you," Mace said.

Palpatine shrugged. "Perhaps. That doesn't make it unwelcome, though. In fact, I quite like having someone around who will speak his mind."

Mace scoffed. "I'm sure you do." _As if you had a choice._

"Still, if you truly wish me to reveal my secrets, you might consider a change in strategy," Palpatine said. "Clearly, your current tactics aren't yielding the results you wish for."

"Really. What are you suggesting I do?" _Not that I have any intention of taking your advice._

Palpatine reached out and put a hand on his knee. The physical contact was so unexpected it took Mace a moment to realize it had happened, and that it didn't seem to be some sort of attack.

"Is that supposed to mean something?" Mace asked, though part of his mind was playing out the rest of the scene already. Palpatine wouldn't actually tell him anything useful as part of their pillow talk, of course; he wasn't that much of a fool.

He might be expecting Mace to be. The idea was ridiculous, and yet - _I could play along with this._ Mace didn't have any feelings for Palpatine beyond dislike, so there was no risk of attachment. It would just be sex. A way to blow off some steam at the end of a boring day - and who knew, Palpatine might slip up one day, reveal something he hadn't meant to reveal to Mace.

Put like that, Mace almost felt like allowing Palpatine to seduce him was his duty.

"You Jedi. All so afraid of what is really only natural," Palpatine said.

_There is nothing natural whatsoever about turning the Republic into a dictatorship. Or allowing the Sith to run wild._

Mace scowled. "Does it look like I'm afraid to you?"

Palpatine's smile turned into a grin. His hand moved a bit further up. "Not at all, Master Windu. It seems I may have underestimated you."

 _Damn right you did._ "So now what are you going to do?"

Palpatine licked his lips. "Well. It would hardly do for the Supreme Chancellor to gain a reputation for not delivering on his promises, would it? Unless, of course, you are afraid after all."

Mace grabbed Palpatine's hand and pulled, enjoying the momentary look of surprise on Palpatine's face before Mace kissed him, with Palpatine more or less sitting in his lap. "Again," he said, "does it look like I'm afraid to you?"

"If I may, perhaps we might continue in the bedroom?" Palpatine said.

For a corrupt, power-hungry politician, Palpatine wasn't half-bad in bed. Mace didn't feel himself in any particular danger of getting attached, but all the same, he enjoyed the sex. It had been a long time.

Waking up the next morning to the smell of fresh coffee wasn't half-bad either.

"Are you quite sure I can't convince you to join my side? The perks I can offer are considerable," Palpatine said, transferring some sliced fruit to his plate.

"I'm sorry, I don't consider breakfast in bed a sufficient inducement to commit treason," Mace said.

Palpatine smiled at him. "I should hope not. Please, have some anyway."

Mace accepted, on the basis that he had to eat anyway, and at least if he ate what Palpatine ate, he might reduce the risk of some poor idiot accidentally dying from the poison Palpatine had meant for him.


End file.
